Computer problems

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Drew99GT

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Oct 11, 2002
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Well, my 5 year old Dell Inspiron is about to die. Every once in a while it'll try and boot and either say no boot drive found, or it'll try and boot and just give me a black screen. I have a Seagate drive in it that's only about 2 years old - it's not making the click of death or anything.

I think either the processor or motherboard are shot - these laptops are notorious for running super hot. 70+C. Mine was like that for a while before I became aware of the problem, and I have it clocked at half speed, so it runs between 40-45C now. I recently was using my laptop in a vehicle and after each use, put it back into my laptop case. After an hour of this, it got super hot and that's when the problems started, so I think I cooked something inside!

Any thoughts?

I'm probably going to bite the bullet and get a new laptop. Looking at el cheapo Toshibas and HPs. I've heard that Toshiba and HP make quality laptops. Thoughts? Any known killer deals you guys have recently come across?

Thanks a bunch guys.
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Just like with anything, you get what you pay for. I've had good luck with IBM in the past, but haven't bought one since they were acquired by Lenovo.

On the other hand, I used to loathe Dell, I thought their designs and quality were awful, but my newest machine I have at work (a Latitude D830 or something like that) seems to be a big improvement. I might come around on them, but I haven't yet.

With any brand, the less expensive models always seem more cheaply made and with lower quality components.
 
With Dell notebooks I feel it's worth it to step up and purchase from their business line of notebooks (Latitude and up I believe), the level of components goes up and they're nicer notebooks. Also, try giving them a call, I got a MAJOR deal on a Dell Latitude notebook by calling them up and working with the person on the phone.

As for your current notebook, chances are your data is still good, it's just the matter of accessing. Are you at all familiar with Linux? Download a Linux Live CD, put it in your computer and boot off the CD. A Linux Live CD will run the entire OS from your RAM and the CD (graphical interface and all), so it doesn't touch the hard drive, but you should be able to access it (you my need to mount the drive depending on the Linux OS being used).

Using a Linux live cd will also tell you if there's something wrong with your computer, if everything works fine with it, then changes are your notebook is fine but something went bad on your windows install, however if you can't boot from anything, then it starts raising other questions and concerns
 
IBM, Dell, whoever, 5 year old laptops are 5 year old laptops, I've seen many of them die by this age and many of them keep chugging independent of the name on slapped to the case.

I've had bad luck with Toshiba's lately. Their warranty service is some of the worst to deal with.

HP is okay. Get a warranty thru Best Buy as they offer a drop-break warranty for a 3 year term.

Asus makes some nice laptops. Look at Uberi.com for great deals or TechBargains for Dell eCoupons.
 
TNS, what would you recommend for a good cheap laptop around $500 that can be bought locally, like at Best Buy? You say Toshibas are shoddy now - would an HP be the way to go then?
 
HP's are okay. Try to get 3GB-4GB RAM memory and at least a 320GB hard disk. The bigger the laptop disk, the faster it is, or so I've noticed.

I don't have a problem with HP, just be sure to buy the warranty. I went with my nephew to pick out a cheap laptop for him, he decided on an HP unit that he still uses (he bought this unit 2 years ago) but he's really happy he go the warranty as the motherboard took a dump on him. He just took it back to Best Buy, waited a week and all was well.

cheers3.gif

Good luck!
 
Do what you want, but I would NEVER buy the warranty from Best Buy. If you read the fine print its full of clauses that let them off the hook. The most obnoxious is that often the warranty is void if they replace the product due to a defect. So it's only valid until the product fails. Plus, I wouldn't let those morons at Geek Squad within 10 feet of anything I own. The whole operation is a Class A scam. Look it up on Google or Consumerist.

If you want the warranty buy it from the manufacturer. It's much more comprehensive and most manufacturers will overnight you a shipping box, fix the machine, and then overnight it back to you at no cost to you. I did a warranty claim on a Toshiba once, and they were a pleasure to deal with. That was some 5 or 6 years ago, however.

IMO, if you're buying a $400 machine, an extended warranty is probably half the cost of the machine. Just be sure to get one with a decent included warranty. For a $2000 machine I could see it but not for a low-end notebook.
 
Toshiba seems like a safe bet, I have had two of them. I would think Sony Vaios laptops would be reliable as well. I have had three sony vaios desktops with hard use and no problems.
 
If you're going to buy new, I'd recommend buying something from tigerdirect.com. I've dealt with them in the past, and from my experience, they are very good on price and customer support.
 
Originally Posted By: benjamming
Anyone source the components & build laptops themselves?


For the *most part*:

1) It's not cost effective, as most of the parts - even OEM - are simply not made, or are at least available, in the economies of scale to bring prices near where desktop components are. Add to that the fact that it is inherently more expensive to build small stuff than not, and you exacerbate the problem.

2) It becomes a mess in terms of warranty, as you have no "one" product to guarantee. Add the time, trouble and stress in troubleshooting to the mix when something fails.

3) A lot of the parts and chipsets are proprietary enough that they don't interoperate as well as the more standardized desktop and server components. And by "proprietary", I mean even things like mounting brackets and footprints. I don't think there is an equivalent to an ATK motherboard, for example.

This was my experience the last time I took a good look at this, which was, admittedly, a few years ago. Someone please correct me if I am out of touch.
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
I've heard that Toshiba and HP make quality laptops.


I wouldn't bother with HP. At the rate they're going, they won't be around to support your laptop in a year.
 
Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
Originally Posted By: benjamming
Anyone source the components & build laptops themselves?


For the *most part*:

1) It's not cost effective, as most of the parts - even OEM - are simply not made, or are at least available, in the economies of scale to bring prices near where desktop components are. Add to that the fact that it is inherently more expensive to build small stuff than not, and you exacerbate the problem.

2) It becomes a mess in terms of warranty, as you have no "one" product to guarantee. Add the time, trouble and stress in troubleshooting to the mix when something fails.

3) A lot of the parts and chipsets are proprietary enough that they don't interoperate as well as the more standardized desktop and server components. And by "proprietary", I mean even things like mounting brackets and footprints. I don't think there is an equivalent to an ATK motherboard, for example.

This was my experience the last time I took a good look at this, which was, admittedly, a few years ago. Someone please correct me if I am out of touch.


ASUS used to sell whitebooks that I would assemble, but they were not cost effective, and so they've gone away from that now and just sell complete notebooks.
 
I have a tower old enough it has a turbo light on it. I don't think it is much more than 10 years old. I bought a new motherboard cheap at Tiger Direct last year and it was a drop in. Likely the above comments on labtops are correct. When shopping for motherboards, I don't remember seeing any for laptops at the low priced places.
 
I just recently bought an Acer 4730Z with an Intel dual core Processor with 3gb Ram, 250gb hdd from Staples for $449. Excellent machine for the money, I love it. I've left it running Prime95 for an hour or so with 100% cpu utilization and it stays relatively cool.. I think the warmest I saw was 55C.

Of course I took the Ram up to 4GB, and minimized the Vista partition to run Ubuntu, which installed and runs like a dream!
 
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